On this day 217 years ago: Napoleon entered the Holy Land, promising that all Jews would be able to return to their homeland, in the ancient territory of the Israelites.
February 25, 1799, French leader Napoleon Bonaparte captured Gaza, subsequently moving north along the coastal plain and defeating Ottoman governor Jazzar Pasha’s troops at Jaffa and Haifa, before retreating back to Egypt after the siege on Acre.
An 1806 French print depicts Napoleon Bonaparte emancipating the Jews. – Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The online Jewish Virtual Library wrote that following the campaign in the Ottoman-ruled territory, the official newspaper of the French government “Le Moniteur Universel” published a manifesto declaring that Napoleon had promised that all Jews would be able to return to their homeland, in the ancient territory of the Israelites. Continue Reading »
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